Until the Wind Dies
by centaria
Summary: After a frustrating argument, Law and Nami wake up to find themselves trapped on an eerie island with the rest of the crew nowhere in sight. Their first order of business is to find their friends; but the situation they've stumbled into is far more dark and complicated than they ever could have imagined. Rated M for LawNa, language, and graphic violence.


That afternoon on the Thousand Sunny was an enjoyable one, as far as strife-less days went. The sunlight was warm, the marines were nowhere in sight, and everyone had found something to keep themselves productive. Law was almost impressed with how seamlessly the ship seemed to function, especially with a crew as small as theirs. It was sort of inspirational in a way, being surrounded by people who all worked so hard and had so much energy. He didn't mind helping them out much, either; when fish needed to be caught, or clothes needed to be hung to dry, they asked him for an extra hand. In return, he just asked that they leave him out of their mindless games. It never really stopped Luffy from asking him anyway, but the younger captain would always accept his refusal eventually.

So Law stood by himself, wandering the deck aimlessly as the boys played some variety of Capture the Flag. Just because he refused their invitation didn't necessarily mean he had anything interesting to do, but he pretended he did. He'd polish his blade, or rub the dirt out of his hat, anything to look busy; to look aloof, like always.

But Luffy never left him alone for long. "Hey, Tra-guy!" He called, flinging himself into the swordsman's path with an excited smile. "We heard that Nami wanted to see you right away!"

"...Why?" Well, that was a first. He'd been getting along fairly well with Nami as of late, perhaps even the most so out of everyone, but all of their chatting had been on the fly. Always about the weather, or their chores, never anything important. She'd never really needed him for anything in the past, but he supposed there was a first time for everything.

"She needs a favor," Usopp cut in, appearing beside the two of them with an equally questionable, stupid-looking smile. "Pretty sure she's hanging out in the girls' room."

Law stared at them for a moment, studying their expressions before letting out a light sigh. They were up to something, very obviously, but he wasn't in the mood to press for details. How bad could it be? He could play along, at least this once. "Alright." He replied, shifting to the left to pass them. Her room was only a few paces away, so he made it to the door before anyone could say anything else.

"Nami-ya, what was it that you wanted?" Law peered in, eyes scanning the room with mild curiosity. It was surprisingly very well-furnished; the room was spotless, save for the stacks of books on practically every available surface. His ship had no need for a women's quarters, so having the chance to see one was at least somewhat interesting… until his eyes settled on her figure. Then suddenly, the meddlesome grins on conniving duo's faces made perfect sense.

"What the hell are you doing?! Why didn't you knock?!" Nami screamed, yanking the sheet from her bed to cover her body.

"Nose-ya and Strawhat-ya told me you needed to see me! Why are you naked?" It was a set up. Of course it was. What else could he have possibly expected out of those two?

"Well, they lied! I'm changing, you halfwit; get the hell out of here!"

"I know that! Don't you fucking order me around!" he snapped, tugging his hat down to cover his eyes.

"Just get out, already!" Nami picked up the pillow from her bed and hurled it at him as he stumbled back through the door and onto the deck. As his back made contact with the grassy lawn, and the pillow landed straight on his face, Law froze for a moment or two. Nami slammed the door shut after him, yelling something about him being too slow.

He wasn't necessarily mortified, no, but he was by no means unphased. Shocked and flustered were more accurate; emotions that didn't sit well with him at all. So he laid there for a while on his back, letting his mind reset into a state of stoic ire before sitting up with the pillow clutched in one hand.

"You assholes. I swear one day I'll eradicate you both." he growled, glaring daggers into the boys laughing hysterically on the floor.

"S-sorry, we were kidding," Usopp grinned, finally catching his breath. "Consider it your crew initiation."

"I can't believe she didn't punch him!" Luffy huffed, kicking his heel on the deck in mock anger. "Lame."

Frustrated, he shoved his face back into the pillow to hide the tint on his cheeks, sighing heavily to keep from going completely off the deep-end. When he noticed how much the pillow smelled like the navigator who'd thrown it at him, however, it did nothing to help the redness on his face. So he kept it there, and stayed seated on the ground for a while longer.

That night at dinner was, unsurprisingly, a very difficult one for Law.

"How can I be sure you didn't poison this?" he asked Sanji, as the other seemed to be exuding flames of fury from his body.

"Just be happy I'm feeding you at all, you rotten piece of shit." He seemed to be taking out his anger by violently cleaning dishes; decidedly the least destructive way to vent his… Law didn't even know what it was. Disgust? Envy? Most likely the latter, though he wasn't terribly interested in prodding to find out.

"Maybe it should be poisoned." the navigator grumbled quietly to herself, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'd taste it for you, but unfortunately… I don't have any taste buds! YOHOHOHO!"

"...I'm going to bed," Nami stood from her chair, giving Law a mixed look before heading for the door. Sanji whined something about her not getting proper nutrition, something about keeping her body in good shape, but she was having none of it.

"I'll speak with her later…" Robin reassured them, taking a sip from her drink nonchalantly.

"Boy, Nami's still not over that joke, huh?" Usopp rested his chin in his hands. "I feel kind of bad, now."

"You should." Zoro snorted, arms folded behind his head in explicit indifference. "This stupid fuss is your fault."

"Just let her sleep it off," Franky patted Law's back vigorously, flashing a knowing smile. "The girly's probably just embarrassed, you know?"

"...Hm."

The rest of the dinner went on as normal; fights broke out over food, half a dozen drinks were spilled, and Law could barely count on his fingers the number of times Luffy had laughed so hard he choked on something. A handful of times he'd caught the guys giving him a look like they felt sorry for him, or like they wanted to offer him some sagely advice about women to help him out of his rut. But it's not easy to give advice on a subject you know absolutely nothing about, and these men weren't exactly smooth operators.

The boys stayed up for a while past dinner, playing some sort of ridiculous game of super-human tag in the dark, but Robin had retired to the girls' quarters early. He had half a mind to send Robin in with a message from him, an apology, but he knew that wouldn't work to his benefit. What would happen after Nami got the message? Either she would forgive him and have trouble finding the right time to bring it up, or she wouldn't forgive him and he would never know. Or, Robin wouldn't tell her anything at all, and he'd spend the next few days waiting for a conversation that would never come. No, none of those outcomes seemed favorable in the slightest. Waiting until morning was definitely his best option.

As the others eventually went back to their quarters, he continued to sit on the deck outside with a coat over his shoulders. He didn't really need it; even with the sun down it was still warm outside, but Chopper had insisted that he kept it around, in case the temperature dropped in the night. Law was almost sure there was no danger of that happening, but the only one on the ship with the authority to predict the weather wasn't exactly available for questioning. So as the night went on, he was left alone with only his thoughts until the lull of the ocean finally put him to sleep.

In the girls' quarters, Nami let out a huge sigh and buried her face in her pillow.

"Robin, do you think this is stupid?"

"Whatever do you mean?" The older woman chimed, thumbing idly through her book.

"You know what I'm talking about… I mean, shouldn't he have apologized by now?"

"Maybe he isn't sure how to," she replied with a small smile. "Men are silly creatures, Nami."

She couldn't deny that. After their years of adventuring, the two of them knew that more than anyone. But that fact alone certainly wasn't enough to put her at ease. "...Did he say anything after I left?"

"Mm, he was very quiet."

Nami let out an exasperated groan and flopped back on her bed. "You think there's any chance I might be the one in the wrong, here?"

"Do you think so?"

"Maybe…" She curled up on her side with her pillow hugged to her frame. "He's not like the others, he wouldn't walk in on me on purpose, right? Maybe it really was just an accident."

"That's certainly a possibility," Robin set her book down gently, flipping off the light switch with her free hand. "I think it would be best if you spoke to him in the morning."

"Okay…"

"...Good night, Nami."

"G'night, Robin," Nami sighed, stuffing her face back into the pillow. Before drifting to sleep, she noted tiredly that the pillowcase somehow managed to still hold Law's scent. "Damn it, he only had this thing for like an hour…" She cursed silently to herself as her cheeks flushed, getting flustered all over again as she slipping into unconsciousness.

"My head hurts…" Nami grumbled, wincing as the harsh sunlight beat down on her eyes. "Like someone replaced my bed with bricks. Ugh..."

"Ah, you're awake. Are you alright? I tried to wake you, but you were out cold."

Silence. She knew that voice. Her eyes snapped open and she shoved herself up to a sitting position. "What are you doing in my-" She paused. Eyes finally adjusting to mind-numbingly bright light, her jaw dropped slightly. Water was a common sight on the sea, naturally. The sand surrounding her on all sides, however, was not. "We're not… on the Sunny."

"No, we're not. You said you head hurts? What kind of pain is it?" Law shifted over to her with a concerned expression.

"I'm fine! Just tell me where we are!"

"...We're in Rogue's Keep. An island off the coast of Wano Country."

"What?!" Nami cried, looking around frantically. "How is that possible? We shouldn't be anywhere near here! And where the hell is the ship?!"

"...Your guess is as good as mine." He sighed, and took as step forward. "You're certain you're fine? You could have a concussion."

"I said I'm fine," she turned to him with a nasty glare. "You did this, didn't you? Take me back to my crew!"

He paused for a moment, absorbing her animosity in silence. Getting into another fight wasn't exactly the way he'd been hoping their day would start. "...You really think this is my fault?"

Nami flinched. So much for apologizing "in the morning".

No, of course she didn't really think that. What motive could he possibly have for stealing her away to some island just to sit around awkwardly on the beach? Obviously there was something else going on here, and antagonizing him wasn't the way to figure it out. "I just… don't know what's going on. Where is everyone?"

"No clue. I was planning on looking for them once you came to."

"...Then, we should go." Nami said meekly, staggering to her feet. Her body was sore all over, like she'd been roughed up pretty badly during the night, but she stayed quiet about it. What would Law think of her if she told him she was fine, then immediately complained about some mild pain? She'd ignore it, as long as it meant they might be able to restore some semblance of friendship in the near future.

"Let's head into town. This island is small, so it shouldn't be hard to find the others if they're around." So much for burying the hatchet, he thought, glancing over his shoulder at the woman behind him. His frown softened a bit when he saw how guilty she looked, and he mentally kicked himself for being so cold.

Nami paused for a moment, looking ahead at their destination. If the others were awake, surely they were searching for her and Law. Wouldn't it be best to stay in one place? But was there any guarantee that they were even here? As much as she hated to admit it, there was a very real possibility that they might not be anywhere nearby. And if they weren't on the island at all, the two of them were trapped without a ship or any real supplies. They only had themselves, and… a backpack? She leaned down to study the object at her feet. It was full to bursting with charting and surveying supplies. Her favorite notebook was placed neatly on top, tied across the middle with a ribbon to keep a pen attached. Some of the supplies were from her study, but there were a few things she'd never seen before, as well. "I'm guessing you didn't do this, either…" She glanced up at Law, who shook his head with small frown. Another unsettling mystery; Nami picked it up reluctantly. She was a bit troubled by it's presence, but it was still mostly her belongings; she couldn't just leave it there. But before she could heave it over her back, Law took it out of her hands.

"I'll hold it," he started, slinging the bag over one shoulder. "...It's kind of suspicious, that's all."

For the first time that morning, Nami felt a bit at ease in Law's proximity. Perhaps searching for her crew alongside him wouldn't be the worst situation in the world. So, without any objections, she followed behind him silently as they made their way off of the beach, and into the desolate island town before them.

* * *

Hello everyone!

Heheh, I have about 20 pages of this thing written out and it's still just barely about a quarter of the way finished. But since the next part needs some major polishing, I'm still working on it. I wanted to get the first part up and out there, so that I don't lose interest and give up. Hopefully this bit isn't terribly rushed; it was actually the last part I wrote to date. (I've been working backwards, since I initially really wanted to write the middle.) The real beef of the story starts in a bit, though! Wish me luck!


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